Monday, April 11, 2011

THE ON- AIR PERSON!


‘I DON’T DEVELOP A SEPARATE PERSONALITY FOR THE RADIO’
… Wana Wana an interesting radio personality; of Inspiration FM (real name: Wana Udobang) shares an interesting part of her life and living with Wordzbelle…

The first time I listened to her on radio, I was not sure of what to make of Wana Wana, the plus-sized sexy presenter; simply gorgeous and ever smiling. But I was sure of one thing; that the deep rich voice that I listen to between the hours of five and six pm on inspiration fm from Monday to Friday is not just ‘some presenter’…

Wana Udobang is the last of five children; three older brothers and a sister.
she attended St. Leo’s Catholic school Ikeja, then Command Secondary School Ibadan.
she attended the University for the Creative Arts in Surrey in the UK, and she also has a first class degree in Journalism. Talking about herself is quite difficult but she says she is ‘pretty much the same person, I don’t develop a separate personality for the radio. I suppose my hyper side is amplified on air. I am also very simple, don’t like stress. Having a good time mostly entails being in great company and having great conversation. I am obsessed with music, theatre, photography and films. I’m a freelance writer.’

HER RADIO JOURNEY

Oh well, it started with an e-mail from her brother and his colleague who saw the advert in the newspaper and gave her the details. She applied and was told to come for an interview and audition when she decided to move back to Nigeria, which she did and as she puts it “ the rest is history”.

THE BUMPS ARE NOT SO EASY ON THE ROAD

Nothing is easy to come by, also, for a profession like radio; Wana Udobang says you have to constantly suppress your emotions. So even if your family member dies, once you are on air that isn’t allowed to come through, which really isn’t good for anyone’s mental health. One challenge that sucks… the fact that there is no public holiday; you know, having to constantly be on air for your favourite listeners.
Another challenge for Wana Wana is ‘the fact that your work is evaluated by your superiors as well as millions listening to you everyday and if you aren’t think skinned, it can take a toll on your self esteem. you constantly feel like you are being graded every time you open the mic. so yeah those are most of the challenges amongst other things’

And this, too…

‘oh also radio is badly paid and everyone gets the impression you have tones of money
but I always knew that, so I was always geared up for that.’

HER ON-AIR LOVE

This is the best part of her job; the opportunity to enlighten people and also be enlightened by listeners sharing their experiences with her!

ON LIFE AND LIVING

Wana Udobang believes a good attitude will do; treat people the way you would like to be treated and learning to be comfortable in your own skin.

FOR THE PRESENTER OUT THERE

Learn everything. Life doesn’t start and end on the microphone. The more skills you have, the better you get.

FIVE ‘WOWING’ FACTS ABOUT WANA WANA!
I am incredibly obsessive.

I have had the same best friends since I was 10years old!

I am someone that looks for deeper meaning to most things though, which can make me a little intense to hang out with.

I am more introspective though. I spend a lot of time by myself. I am quite moody but I try to hide that from most people.

I am very irritable.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

IF TOMMORROW COMES

Such were his dreams. The reality of his future, the passion of his past, the force behind his ambition. They carry him to places before time, he sees the path before hand and he has decided to tread along the path of his destiny like a traveler. They call him Ware, the tall slender imposing figure with a straight face and large eyes. Ware is the son of his mother’s youth, people said he has fresh blood flowing in his veins; that is the reason for his intelligence. Ware spoke his first word at nine months, and wrote his first alphabet at two years. No doubt, he is going to be great. Although, some said he was possessed, no child ever does that, he should be flogged with an unused broom then, they would believe. Ware has been flogged three times, once after the prolonged illness that killed his father and people began to grumble; he is the son of the sea. Twice, when he predicted that his mother’s friend was going to get pregnant and give birth to a dead child and the third time, when he told his mother he was going to be ill for a week or two, and that was it. He had to be flogged to chase the evil spirit that still lurks around him, he is an evil child. That was the last time, Ware’s mother, Sisi, got tired of the black stripes that had scarred her son’s skin and relocated with him to Lagos.

Ware will never find out, the secrets of his childhood that his mother kept away from him; like an aborted pregnancy, it was gone, flushed out properly and would never return. No one in Oyadiran Estate would find out, Sisi had left her past in Sapele to start a new life for her son in Lagos. She wants Ware to grow normally without the spiritual scare that he was the son of the sea or a spirit child. She protected Ware from family members and friends, her son would be great; wise people had foretold: the sage that lives beside her father’s hut in the village, Atunu the oldest woman in Sapele and the diviner that told her Ware is tomorrow’s son. It is on this enigma that Sisi sits and sets her eyes on the mother of her son….